Angebote zu "History" (102 Treffer)

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Only two people were in a position to experience all the events leading up to the first flight of a viable airplane, and here in three short essays they report how it came about.The idea of powered flight was so new that there were not even accepted methods of measuring the forces at play on a machine in-flight. The Wright brothers had to develop their own testing methods and conduct experimentation before they finally began to design something theoretically capable of the feat. Most vexing of all was the problem of control – how to conduct a controlled turn when the forces are unbalanced. Without boring you with calculations they explain how they tested different wing shapes and control vanes and then verified them in hundreds of flights in a glider. Finally, in December, 1903, they achieved their milestone: ´´the flight lasted only 12 seconds, but it was nevertheless the first flight in the history of the world in which a machine carrying a man had raised itself by its own power into the air in full flight, had sailed forward without reduction of speed, and had finally landed at a point as high as that from which it started.´´ 1. Language: English. Narrator: Mark F. Smith. Audio sample: http://samples.audible.de/bk/mike/000034/bk_mike_000034_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.

In this fascinating biography, Fred C. Kelly, a former newspaperman, author, and an old friend of the Wrights, tells the story of the 2 brilliant, dedicated, flight-obsessed bicycle mechanics from Ohio who first realized mankind´s age-old dream of conquering the skies. Long considered the definitive Wright Brothers biography (the manuscript was read and approved by Orville Wright), Kelly´s work recounts the Wrights´ small-town boyhood, their early interest in all things mechanical, the establishment of the Wright Cycle Shop, and the complete behind-the-scenes story of how they designed, built, tested, and flew (December, 1903) the first ´´Flyer.´´ 1. Language: English. Narrator: Noah Waterman. Audio sample: http://samples.audible.de/bk/blak/000151/bk_blak_000151_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.

Between the world wars, no sport was more popular, or more dangerous, than airplane racing. Thousands of fans flocked to multi-day events, and cities vied with one another to host them. The pilots themselves were hailed as dashing heroes who cheerfully stared death in the face. Well, the men were hailed. Female pilots were more often ridiculed than praised for what the press portrayed as silly efforts to horn in on a manly, and deadly, pursuit. Fly Girls recounts how a cadre of women banded together to break the original glass ceiling: the entrenched prejudice that conspired to keep them out of the sky. O´Brien weaves together the stories of five remarkable women: Florence Klingensmith, a high school dropout who worked for a dry cleaner in Fargo, North Dakota; Ruth Elder, an Alabama divorcee; Amelia Earhart, the most famous, but not necessarily the most skilled; Ruth Nichols, who chafed at the constraints of her blue blood family´s expectations; and Louise Thaden, the mother of two young kids who got her start selling coal in Wichita. Together, they fought for the chance to race against the men - and in 1936 one of them would triumph in the toughest race of all. 1. Language: English. Narrator: Erin Bennett. Audio sample: http://samples.audible.de/bk/high/002170/bk_high_002170_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.

"For some years I have been afflicted with the belief that flight is possible to man. My disease has increased in severity and I feel that it will soon cost me an increased amount of money if not my life." So wrote a quiet young Ohioan in 1900, one in an ancient line of men who had wanted to fly - wanted it passionately, fecklessly, hopelessly. But now, at the turn of the 20th century, Wilbur Wright and a scattered handful of other adventurers conceived a conviction that the dream lay at last within reach, and in a headlong race across 10 years and two continents, they competed to conquer the air. James Tobin, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in biography, has at last given this inspiring story its definitive telling. For years Wright and his younger brother, Orville, experimented in utter obscurity. Meanwhile, the world watched as the imperious Samuel Langley, armed with a rich contract from the U.S. War Department and all the resources of the Smithsonian Institution, sought to create the first manned flying machine. But while Langley became obsessed with flight as a problem of power, the Wrights grappled with it as a problem of balance. Thus their machines took two very different paths - his toward oblivion, theirs toward the heavens. To Conquer the Air is a hero´s tale of overcoming obstacles within and without that plumbs the depths of creativity and character. With a historian´s accuracy and a novelist´s eye, Tobin has captured the interplay of remarkable personalities at an extraordinary moment in our history. In the centennial year of human flight, To Conquer the Air is itself a heroic achievement. 1. Language: English. Narrator: Boyd Gaines. Audio sample: http://samples.audible.de/bk/sans/000416/bk_sans_000416_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.

On September 11, 2001, Lisa Beamer was thrust into the national spotlight after her husband, Todd, became an American hero by preventing terrorist hijackers from almost certainly flying United Flight 93 into the White House or the United States Capitol. Instead, Todd led a group of passengers to resist the hijackers, forcing the plane to crash into a Pennsylvania field. Todd and the other heroes of Flight 93 gave their lives so that untold others would be spared. Nothing could be more heroic. Lisa is now telling that story, and much more. She explores the tragic events of that day, revealing some information never before published. She also looks at the life of her husband, telling how and why he was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice and the reason for her hope, courage, and quiet personal strength. This is Todd and Lisa´s story, but it´s also ours, for all of us who long to have the personal qualities of a real hero. This book shows us what they are and how to develop them. The phrase, ´´Let´s Roll´´ were the last words the GTE Airfone operator heard from Todd before the crash. They have become a rallying cry for all Americans to move ahead, despite pain and suffering, with hope, courage, and strength. 1. Language: English. Narrator: Lisa Helm. Audio sample: http://samples.audible.de/bk/tynd/000023/bk_tynd_000023_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.